Catching up: Part 1 - Contest Season

This past year, has gone by in a flash, but has easily been one of the best. Following Korea, things got so hectic that I fell victim to not updating my blog (my bad fam). In an effort to get back up to date, I figured I might as well make a couple of posts to let you know about all the craziness that’s happened over the spring and summer for me. Starting off with the rest of the contest season.

Silvaplana, Switzerland.

Following X Games Oslo, I stayed in Europe for another 7 weeks chasing contests. The next contest after Norway was the final World Cup of the season in Silvaplana, Switzerland where I just missed finals by one spot. Always a bummer not making finals but thankfully I was able to make three of the four World Cup finals during the season, and for that I’m happy. This placed me 13th in Slopestyle for the World Cup Tour. Looking forward to all the World Cups we have this winter.

After a successful night at the Casino, Willie wanted to buy some Gucci shoes. We fit in pretty well.

Directly after the World Cup, we headed north by a couple of hours for the European Freeskiing Open in Laax, Switzerland. Since I was able to podium their the previous year, the event organizers hooked it up with lodging, along with a spot in Semi-finals. My roommate for this was none other than James Woods, along with a bunch of friends who would come through. When the contest day rolled around, I unfortunately wasn’t able to put down the run I wanted and ended up missing finals again. At that point, I was lacking some serious motivation with contests, and started to feel pretty burnt out. Thankfully, with a lot of good friends around to talk and figure stuff out, I was able to get refocused for the rest of the season. Since I wasn't able to make finals, me and the boys made the most of it.

Jumping with Woodsy in Laax! Easily one of the best places to ride in the World.

The next contest we had on the schedule is always a favorite, SFR Tour Finals in La Clusaz. Thankfully was back to skiing well, and made finals at this contest finishing 8th. Big thanks to SFR Tour for throwing another fun contest, can't wait for this season!

La Clusaz, France

Shot I took of Luca Schuler during qualifers!

Since I had such a fun week of skiing in La Clusaz, I decided to tag along with Woodsy and Aleksi Patja for Freeski Playoffs. This is an event organized by Juilen Eustache at his home resort of La Roseire. Honestly had no idea what to expect going into this event, and it ended up being one of my highlights from this EuroTrip.

One of the best views I had to wake up to this winter in La Rosiere, France.

The most fun day of the season for me. Awesome time lapping this mountain with the boys. Thanks for showing us around Julien!

Photo by: Maxime Ramoul

After arriving in La Rosiere, we were able to meet up with a few friends who slowly began to roll in. The first day we went out, was a skiing day good for the soul. Hot laps on a run called the Fort, with natural roller and jump hits all over the place. To top it off, we skied from the resort over to Italy, and took a couple runs before heading back to France. Another unique thing we were able to do at this event was play a hockey game for the town locals. We even had a day of practice in there so we wouldn’t look too foolish. For the actual contest part, this was more of a head to head format Big Air, all based on style. At the end of the day, Aleksi Patja from Finland came out on top.

France Vs. The World Hockey Game!

Photo by Maxime Ramoul

I had about 5 days to kill before heading to Andorra for the final contest of the year. So I went up to Switzerland to ski one day with good buddy Robin Gillon and his cool lady Nicole Berra. They showed me around this amazing resort called Crans-Montana, and I had a blast taking fun hot laps. When the season get's rolling it's very rare that you get to have a fun day of riding around a park. So happy I was able to do just that.

With a few days left to kill, I decided it was about time I became a tourist. So on Easter Sunday, I was up at 4am, and beginning my journey. Getting to see the sunrise in Bern was a great sign that the day was going to be amazing. From Bern down to Milan, then over to Venice. Didn’t have much time there unfortunately, but I walked all over that city in the course of 2 hours trying to see as much as I could, and getting some grub before hoping back on the train towards Milan. My final destination for the trip was in Pisa where I was to meet up with one of my best buds Kyle Chiasson and his awesome gf Perri! After meeting up and getting my hostel situation figured out, we went down by the river and after consuming a healthy amount of gelato were able to watch a Easter Sunday firework show.

Easter Sunrise in Bern, Switzerland

Venice, Italy

When in Italy, do yourself a favor and get a Gelato Waffle. You're welcome :)

The next day, I continued to be a tourist with Kyle and Perry from going to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, before making our way to Florence. My original plan was to ride there, and only hang out for a little bit before heading back to Switzerland. Since it was Easter weekend though, I was unable to get a reservation back that night, and had to take an alternate route that made my 4-hour trip home into a 14-hour one. On the plus side, this meant I got to explore Florence a bit more. One of the more beautiful cities with so much amazing art everywhere. Such a key city during the Renaissance, and you’re continually blown away by how many masterpieces there are. With another amazing evening hanging out with Kyle and Perry in the books, I began my journey to Switzerland around 1:00 AM, 14 hours later, I was back in Switzerland.

Kyle, Perry, and some weird tower.

I was running a bit behind my original schedule, but decided to take the rest of the day for resting up. The following day I took the train to get to Barcelona. To give you a reference point, this was right after the Brussels attack, so traveling was a bit more hectic than usual with so much extra security, along with people looking at a strange boy running through a train station with his ski bag in tow. After getting to Barcelona, and meeting up with Walker, Charlie, and the Finn's we headed out to Andorra.

We arrived after midnight, and quickly went to sleep. The next couple days for Total Fight were so much fun. Only bummer with the event this year was the weather. Made it back into finals, although wasn’t able to do as well as I hoped. I finished that event 11th. This also put me in 13th Place for Slopestyle on the AFP World Tour. A bit of a drop from last year, but after getting to reflect on my season I'm happy with how I skied overall. Now more motivated than ever to come back into next season strong and ready.

To finish out the European adventure, we spent an additional week in Andorra for the SLVSH cup. This was also one of the highlights on the trip for me, We got the opportunity to ski at a little park called Sunset Park Peretol. With a little restaurant at the bottom, and a ropetown running from 4pm to 11pm every night.

After an amazing time in Andorra for SLVSH, it was time to head down to Barcelona for a couple days before flying back to the States. Easily one of my favorite cities in Europe. This wrapped up my European Adventure, and contest season. Learned so much competing this year, and feeling more motivated than ever for the upcoming season. It's going to be a doozy!

Took this shot around 5am of the Sagrada Familia before heading to the airport.

Many thanks to everyone who made this trip unforgettable! Next up on the blog is some of the shenanigans I was able to be apart of this spring.